THE PERILS OF “NEOLIBERALISM:”

One nation comes in for particular scorn: Chile, because of the Pinochet dictatorship that succeeded the coup that toppled leftist hero Allende back in 1973. Milton Friedman and other free marketeers advised the Pinochet government about how best to get their economy going again, but Friedman also advised China around this same time, and somehow that never draws a complaint from the left. Anyway, Pinochet ultimately relinquished power and re-established free elections (anyone think Allende would have ever done that?), and today Chile’s economy is one of the strongest in the world.

How strong is it? The New York Times reported recently: ““The Chilean government, facing skyrocketing rates of obesity, is waging war on unhealthy foods with a phalanx of marketing restrictions, mandatory packaging, redesigns and labeling rules aimed at transforming the eating habits of 18 million people.”

Contrast this with Venezuela, where the equivalent of the Allende government has held power for nearly 20 years now, and the population is on the verge of starvation. Think Venezuelans might want a bit of neoliberalism right about now?

Heh. Read the whole thing.™